T h e I n f o r m ati o n T e c h n o l o g y & I n n o v ati o n F o u n d ati o n
Ten Myths of Addressing Global
Warming and the Green Economy
by Robert D. Atkinson and Darrene Hackler
Numerous advocacy
groups, scholars, think
tanks and others have
proposed a variety of steps
to address global warming
based on a set of
assumptions about the
green economy. Yet,
while we need to take bold
action to address climate
change, much of what
passes for conventional
wisdom in this space is in
fact either wrong or
significantly exaggerated.
ITIF
| June 2010
P
erhaps no social and economic issue is getting so much at-
tention these days as the need to transition to a low-carbon
economy. Most scientific evidence suggests that a 50 to 85
percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) must occur by
2050 to prevent global temperatures from rising more than two de-
grees Celsius. Toward that end, numerous advocacy groups, scholars,
think tanks and others have proposed a variety of steps to take based
on a set of assumptions about the green economy. Yet, while we need
to take bold action to address climate change, much of what passes for
conventional wisdom in this space is in fact either wrong or signifi-
cantly exaggerated.
There are several key reasons why conven- If the goal is to reduce GHG by 50 per-
tional wisdom is incorrect, or at best sig- cent by 2050, it’s not enough for each
nificantly overstated. One is that because unit of economic activity to be 50 per-
the magnitude of change needed is much cent “cleaner.” Global population is
larger than many realize, many conven- expected to grow by 46 percent (not
tional solutions simply won’t achieve the a desirable goal and one we can and
global scale needed. The simple equation should take efforts to slow). Moreover,
below demonstrates the scale of the chal- per-capita income growth is expected
lenge. Growth in global GHG emissions to increase by 129 percent (a desirable
is largely a factor of population change, goal). Put those two factors together,
per capita income change, and our “dirti- and now the planet’s economic activity
ness” of every unit of consumption. The must become 84 percent less polluting
last factor describes how much less pol- to achieve the over 50 percent reduction
luting (in terms of GHG emissions) our in GHG. That is, we need an 84 percent
business-as-usual economy needs to reduction in our “dirtiness” for every
become as the other two factors vary. unit of energy we utilize. By any mea-
sure, this is a great hurdle given the ex-
Greenhouse Gas Change = Popula- pectations that neither population nor
tion Change * Per-Capita Income income growth are going to hold steady
Change * Dirtiness Factor over the next four decades.
A second factor limiting the discourse is the belief of
many that innovation is “manna from heaven” that
either just happens or perhaps occurs if we raise the
price of carbon by some modest amount. But in fact,
innovation in general, and energy innovation in par-
ticular, is a quite difficult and complex process that is
dependent on much more than modest price signals.
Energy innovation requires a coherent energy innova-
tion policy.
Third, as we note in a forthcoming ITIF report, the cli-
mate change debate has to date largely been shaped by
several dominant and competing economic doctrines
or worldviews, each with a different approach, orienta-
tion, and bias toward certain policies and actions.
Here are ten widespread myths about how we address
global warming and grow a green economy that de-
mand our attention.
1) Higher prices on greenhouse gases are
enough to drive the transition to a clean
economy
Reality: Better price signals are helpful, but not suf-
ficient in significantly reducing GHG.
The dominant policy approach to reducing GHG and
boosting U.S. clean energy industrial competitiveness
focuses on establishing a price on emissions of carbon
dioxide and other global warming pollutants through
carbon taxes or cap and trade. Proponents include
economists like Greg Mankiw, Glenn Hubbard, Wil-
liam Nordhaus, scientists like Joe Romm and James
Hansen, and virtually all of the environmental com-
munity. But it is naïve to believe that these policies can
succeed on their own for several reasons.
First, for many clean energy technologies to be com-
petitive with fossil fuels, governments would have to
set very high prices for carbon pollution, and typically
governments face stiff political resistance to doing so.1
Thus, political considerations mean that any carbon
price (through tax or cap and trade) established will be
relatively low, as in currently pending U.S. climate and
energy legislation, which would establish a price aver-
aging roughly $15 per ton of CO2-equivalent for the
first decade of the program (2012-2021) – the equiva-
lent of a roughly 15 cent increase in the price of a gal-
lon of gasoline.2
The information Technology & Innovation foundation | June 2010 page 2
Even if it were politically feasible to hike carbon prices
radically, we still cannot assume it would induce chang-
es in behavior. If higher carbon prices are really the key
to spurring change, then more Europeans would be
driving around in electric cars. Europeans (and the rest
of us) will drive electric cars when we have better bat-
teries (and the infrastructure that supports electric ve-
hicles). In many European nations the price on carbon
for transportation fuels is around $400 per ton, which
is the amount reflected in their overall transportation
fuel taxes. Yet, while the high tax induces Europeans
to drive smaller cars and drive less than Americans,
it has not induced them to switch to electric cars. In
fact, there are virtually no electric cars in Europe. The
reason is simple. Price signals only lead to behavior
change when there is a viable substitute. If beef sud-
denly tripled in price this summer, Americans would be
grilling a lot more chicken. Preferences aside, there is
a less expensive substitute for beef – and a pretty good
one at that. This is not the case when it comes to energy
alternatives. Electric cars, for example, are still at the
prototype stage as a practical matter and priced well
out of reach for most consumers. Even those who can
afford these vehicles face an inadequate infrastructure
for widespread use. And as discussed below, let’s not
fall into the trap of thinking that if the world achieved
European driving habits (smaller cars and fewer miles
driven per capita) that GHG emissions would go down
by 2050. In fact, with the massive expected increase
in automobile ownership globally, they will go up dra-
matically.
If higher carbon prices are really the key to spurring change, then
more Europeans would be driving around in electric cars.
Europeans (and the rest of us) will drive electric cars when we
have better batteries (and the infrastructure that supports electric
vehicles).
Also consequential is that an economy-wide carbon
price would not overcome specific barriers to the adop-
tion of particular technologies. While a modest carbon
price may help some lower-cost and more mature clean
energy technologies (e.g., wind power) become more
competitive with fossil fuels, it will do little for less ma-
ture and currently more expensive technologies such as
solar energy or carbon capture and storage or needed,
but not yet developed, breakthroughs (such as algae-
based energy). Carbon prices alone cannot solve the
many non-price barriers specific to the adoption (or
development) of emerging clean technologies.3
Finally, a high carbon price does not solve the problem
that companies who innovate aren’t able to keep all of
the knowledge from that innovation and the long-term
risks associated with large private investments in tech-
nology development and deployment. Nor does it facil-
itate the establishment of critical infrastructure, such
as new transmission lines, grid upgrades, or storage
for intermittent sources like wind and solar.4 In other
words, we are kidding ourselves if we expect private
companies to set the pace for a historic reconfiguration
of how to produce and consume energy.
Only a concerted government clean energy innovation
strategy that encourages private sector innovation will
lead to practical, affordable alternatives in clean energy
production and consumption. Carbon pricing forces
people simply to accept higher prices for a good or ser-
vice that has no substitute, and the private sector drags
its feet in supplying that substitute until it is monetarily
useful to do otherwise. (See Myths 4 and 8.)
Some left-of-center critics might respond by acknowl-
edging that prices have limitations, but respond that
regulations (e.g., the “cap” in cap and trade or tougher
efficiency regulations and renewable energy standards)
will get us there. But to use the example above, while
a regulation reducing the amount of beef that can be
produced in America would likely lead Americans to
eat more chicken (and also increase beef imports), strin-
gent regulations on carbon emissions with limited low-
carbon alternatives will lead to a significant increase
in the price of carbon. These prices will ultimately be
difficult to support in the American political environ-
ment and even harder in low income countries. Not to
mention how such regulations will also result in more
“imported” carbon from a larger trade deficit in energy
intensive manufacturing and its ensuing concomitant
loss of jobs.
Most tax and/or cap-and-trade advocates give lip ser-
vice to the need for clean energy innovation. Their ma-
jor focus is clearly on increasing the price of carbon
and/or regulating emissions. Just look at their nearly
The information Technology & Innovation foundation | June 2010 page 3
unanimous support for current House and Senate
climate change legislation that gives short shrift to a
serious clean energy strategy. For the most part, cap-
and-trade advocates have done almost nothing to build
political support for a clean innovation strategy to pro-
mote and support clean technology R&D, deployment,
and commercialization. The reason is clear: they be-
lieve that prices and/or caps will do the job.
Yet, from development economist Jeffrey Sachs and
Microsoft’s Bill Gates to Energy Secretary Steven Chu
and Newsweek’s Fareed Zakaria, there is increasingly
acknowledgement that a price on carbon and a non-
binding carbon cap will not be enough to result in the
level of private sector investment in technology that
cap-and-trade proponents have long promised. Conse-
quently, current proposals will fail to adequately reduce
U.S. emissions and ignore the global growth-energy
predicament. We need a concerted clean energy inno-
vation strategy to de-carbonize energy production that
will not only address U.S. emissions but also provide
viable, affordable alternatives on a global scale.
2) The U.S. can make major contributions
to solving climate change on its own
Reality: The energy needs of the rest of the world will
result in them producing the lion’s share of GHG; any
solution must be one that is able to be adopted by
every nation in the absence of regulation or energy
taxes.
Many of the proponents of taking action on climate
change focus narrowly on the United States, assuming
that significant U.S. progress will make a major con-
tribution to decarbonization. The problem with this
assumption is that most U.S. proposals are themselves
inadequate. As demonstrated in the equation above
and described in Myth 1, higher carbon prices alone
won’t enable us to reach a 50 percent global reduc-
tion in GHG under this growth scenario. The current
U.S. legislative response is to create a “price mecha-
nism” with a “cap-and-trade” regime, and then stack
regulations or incentives upon it, including subsidies
for renewable energy, more stringent Energy Star or
Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards
for home appliances and automobiles, respectively, as
well as designing new enforcement mechanisms. For
example, the recently unveiled American Power Act
by Senators John Kerry and Joe Lieberman proposes
to address “carbon leakage” with “WTO-consistent
border adjustment mechanisms” like import taxes on
goods from countries that have not taken action to
limit emissions.
Regulation is also probable in the absence of climate
change legislation. The U.S. Environmental Protec-
tion Agency is finalizing a rule on GHG emissions.
As EPA administrator Lisa P. Jackson recently ex-
plained the “EPA has set common-sense thresholds
for greenhouse gases that will spark clean technology
innovation.”5
But even if this mix of legislation and regulation could
be achieved, it ignores the fact that world population
is forecasted to increase from 6.7 billion to 9 billion
by 2030, effectively doubling global energy consump-
tion. If the United States somehow finds the political
will to impose high, or even moderate prices, or limits
on carbon emissions and even if those actions were
to reduce carbon emissions by 85 percent (an unlikely
scenario at best), this will only account for a 12 percent
reduction in global GHG emissions by 2050.6 Any so-
lution, as described next, has to be one that is going to
be adopted globally in the absence of GHG regulations
or taxes. In short, climate change is a global problem
that requires a global solution. But is cap-and-trade
that solution?
3) Cap-and-trade is a sustainable global
solution
Reality: As Copenhagen showed, a global agreement
is not likely, and the only solution that can meet 50
the percent reduction of GHG is making non-carbon
alternatives as cheap and functional as fossil fuels.
Proponents of cap and trade, like Bill Mckibben, of
350.org, Tim Flannery, chairman of the Copenhagen
Climate Council, and economists Kristen Sheeran and
James Barrett, assume that a global trading regime is
necessary, but Copenhagen demonstrated how diffi-
cult it is to achieve.
One reason they seek a global agreement is because
GHG are not contained within country borders. Even
though there are efforts to get back on track, we are
unlikely to have an agreement. A major hurdle that
must be overcome is the developed versus developing
nations’ view on emissions. Although developed na-
tions can reasonably afford to make modest reductions
The information Technology & Innovation foundation | June 2010 page 4
in GHG emissions (even though many, like the U.S.,
resist paying extra to reduce GHG emissions), devel-
oping nations, like the BASIC countries (Brazil, South
Africa, India, China) as well as those that are even
more impoverished, cannot.
But one of the little noted assumptions upon which
all of the economic cases for carbon trading or carbon
taxes are based is a globally harmonized price. With-
out harmonization, carbon pricing doesn’t work. Some
places will be paying too much and others too little.
But with a harmonized price the developing world
pays 2/3 or more of the mitigation cost. This is not
only a complete non-starter politically, it is profoundly
unethical to ask nations with per-capita incomes as
low as 10 to 20 percent of the levels of the developed
nations to bear the lion’s share of the costs of GHG
reduction by paying a premium for low-carbon energy
when they can barely afford the basics of food, shel-
ter and health care. Moreover, in the name of global
fairness, no agreement should limit their legitimate at-
tempts to finally attain a higher standard of living.
A global cap-and-trade regime doesn’t focus on what is really
needed—the creation of affordable clean energ y for not just the
United States and BASIC countries, but for all.
The conventional response to this challenge, as Paul
Krugman recently advocated, is to suggest that the
United States (and Europe) will either bribe poor na-
tions to buy more expensive clean energy (e.g. massive
clean development aid), or we will penalize them with
border adjustable carbon taxes.7 But why would there
be the political will in the United States to increase
taxpayer-financed aid subsidies when most American
voters resist paying higher prices for their own clean
energy? Likewise, any kind of carbon tariff regime
would have the same effect. Imposed taxes (after all,
a tariff is a tax) on the products businesses and con-
sumers buy from overseas would be opposed by many
voters on the same basis. Moreover, even if by some
miracle, Europe, Japan, the United States find the po-
litical will to come up with the billions of dollars a year
needed to subsidize poor countries’ clean energy, this
still assumes that there are adequate low-carbon alter-
natives to be used in these nations (see Myth 1).
In the end, a global cap-and-trade regime doesn’t fo-
cus on what is really needed—the creation of afford-
able (read “grid parity”) clean energy for not just the
United States and BASIC countries, but for all. To do
so, we need sustained investment in innovation that
will drive down cost curves for next generation clean
energy technologies. This is the global imperative, and
the U.S. should utilize our innovation expertise to
rise to the challenge. In 2007 Google called its energy
initiative, “Renewable Energy Cheaper Than Coal
(RE<C), and explicitly framed the climate change
challenge around innovation. Google has since called
for the federal government to invest $15 billion a year
in energy R&D spending. A global cap-and-trade re-
gime is not the policy vehicle for us to reach this solu-
tion. Clean energy innovation is.
4) We don’t need innovation; we have all
the technology we need
Reality: Current technology is woefully inadequate in
reaching the needed 85 percent carbon reduction ef-
ficiency.
Many green advocates declare that we have “all the
technology we need,” and it is incumbent upon us po-
litically and economically to, as in the words of Nike,
“just do it”. From former vice president Al Gore to
scientists like Amory Lovins and Joe Romm, these ad-
vocates suggest that today’s clean energy technologies
and renewable energy sources are sufficient for us to
replace oil and fossil fuels.8 Of course, if we don’t re-
ally have the technology we need, there is a risk that
policy makers would balk at imposing prices or regula-
tions on GHG. It’s better to advise that we can solve
this problem. We just need to raise the price of coal
and oil a bit and technology will fly from the shelf
and into the market. But as we noted above, imposing
prices or regulations on GHG are not enough to get us
the technology we need.
The reality is that we don’t have the technology we
need to make needed reductions in global GHG emis-
sions at a price at or below the price of fossil fuels. But
this is not a cause for despair. It is a cause for hope. We
can and should hope that if we put in place a real clean
energy innovation system, we can rely on the creativity
of scientists, engineers, and entrepreneurs from around
the globe to come up with breakthrough solutions.
The information Technology & Innovation foundation | June 2010 page 5
For what we need is fundamental breakthroughs that
provide us with the next generation of clean energy—
generation IV nuclear reactors, radical carbon capture
and storage technologies (CCS), next generation solar
cells, fundamentally better energy storage technology,
and new biotechnology energy breakthroughs.9
The reality is that we don’t have the technolog y we need to make
needed reductions in global GHG emissions at a price at or be-
low the price of fossil fuels.
These breakthroughs face daunting challenges, includ-
ing lowering materials and processing costs, improv-
ing conversion efficiencies, and gaining better manu-
facturing yields. Moreover, innovators generally, and
clean energy innovators in particular, recover only a
portion of the benefits their technologies produce.
Preferring to “free ride” off existing technologies,
most companies make the rational business decision
to under invest in fundamentally new green technolo-
gies.
Government must step in, incentivize basic R&D
and propel these technologies through the “valley of
death” – the phase in the development of technologies
between research and commercial introduction in the
marketplace. The efforts cannot stop there; the dem-
onstrations of these technologies require scaling them
up and proving commercial viability in terms of cap-
turing significant global market share for energy.
Take the case of solar, issues like system reliability, in-
tegration with existing systems, control infrastructure,
and installation economics pose key technical issues
that must be addressed if we want to have greater pen-
etration than the forecasted 5 percent to 10 percent in
the next decade.10 The integration of a high volume
of inverter-based photovoltaic systems will require
not only a smart grid, but also advances in present-
day inverters. Sophisticated algorithms need to be de-
signed to ensure interactive controls like passive moni-
toring and active control that will allow PV systems
to disconnect when necessary but stay on-line when
drops in utility voltage and frequency levels occur.
Currently, the technology is not there to support massive
movement to solar PV.
So the “it” in “just do it” should really mean “innovate,”
not just deploy current technology. In other words we
have to recognize the importance of supporting inno-
vation that will engender the next generation of clean
energy technologies and smart grid communications
infrastructure, and follow-on with modifications of
the regulatory framework that will allow renewables to
fully integrate into our energy supply. These steps are
consequential to an innovation system.
5) “Insulation is enough” (e.g. energy
efficiency will save us)
Reality: Even the most optimistic estimates suggest
energy efficiency measures will only provide one-quar-
ter of the levels of GHG reductions that the United
States needs to effectively address climate change.
Certainly, efforts to improve our energy efficiency are
an important part of attaining a lower carbon footprint,
but in reality these are short-run, stop-gap solutions.
Those who unabashedly support energy efficiency
measures, like professor Robert Ayers, journalist Lisa
Margonelli, and the American Council for an Energy-
Efficient Economy don’t necessarily see this.
To be sure, efficiency helps. Yet, if we add all of the po-
tential savings from energy efficiency, they don’t make
a big enough dent in achieving the necessary reduc-
tion in GHG emissions. As a recent McKinsey Quarterly
report indicated, improvements to energy efficiency
do reduce our demand for power and present the low-
est cost of abating up to one-quarter of GHG needed
to meet the target of 50 percent global reduction by
2050.11 These efficiency-enhancing measures come
mainly from the building and transportation sectors
and include weatherizing homes with better insula-
tion, retrofitting buildings or utilizing LEED “green
building” standards, and increasing fuel efficiency of
vehicles.
While these kinds of activities do help much of this
market, the “low hanging fruit,” or as Secretary Chu
likes to say the “fruit on the ground,” is difficult to co-
ordinate and stimulate. Residential weatherization and
solar retrofitting is more like gathering potatoes under
the ground for very little overall reduction in GHG.
Improved industrial efficiency may be a better target
given that the manufacturing industry is responsible
for approximately one-third of GHG emissions, with
the lion’s share coming from energy-intensive sectors
The information Technology & Innovation foundation | June 2010 page 6
such as chemicals, pulp and paper, primary metals,
glass, and cement. But even here, the potential of low
hanging fruit is limited.
Even though energ y efficiency is actionable now, after a while,
the number of retrofits will grow smaller—decreasing returns to
our efforts.
Even though energy efficiency is actionable now, after
a while, the number of retrofits will grow smaller—
decreasing returns to our efforts. Given current ef-
ficiency technologies, short-term realities do not add
up. In short, 25 percent improvement in “carbon effi-
ciency” is not enough, we need 85 percent. For that we
need radical innovation to provide clean energy alter-
natives, rather than just using carbon-based fuels a bit
more efficiently. Moreover, we need to recognize that
increases in efficiency also have offsetting effects. As
organizations and households save money on energy
because of efficiency, demand falls as prices for energy
also fall (or at least don’t rise as fast as they would with-
out efficiency-induced demand reduction). As a result,
lower relative prices for energy mean that people con-
sume additional energy, at least partially offsetting the
original energy savings from efficiency.
6) Low growth is the answer…just live
simply
Reality: Neither living simply nor a massive reces-
sion will enable us to obtain the level of reductions
required.
Given that GHG emissions are a function of the mul-
tiplication of population, per-capita income, and “car-
bon dirtiness,” some environmental advocates have
placed their focus on reducing the second factor (per-
capita income). Rooted in the philosophy of Thomas
Malthus, of “dismal science” fame, they warn that
prosperity (or as they call it “wasteful consumption”)
is the real culprit. Only with less growth and simpler
lifestyles can we address climate change.
These modern day Malthusians believe in “socially
sustainable economic degrowth”. Herman Daly, an
ecological economist at the University of Maryland,
leads the way with his “steady state economy” idea, in
which our goal would be to respect the limits of the
biosphere and try to hold population and the stock of
physical goods constant. Thus, Daly also promotes a
“cap-auction-trade system for depletion of basic re-
sources, especially fossil fuels” as a sort of ecological
tax reform that taxes “bads”, and not “goods”, shifting
taxes away from human capital to natural resources.12
In other words, taxing bads means placing taxes on
activities which impose costs to society beyond the
benefits to individual consumers, as consumption of
fossil fuels do.
A similar approach to live up to Daly’s desire comes
from sociologist Juliet Schor at Boston College. Schor
believes that reducing the number of hours worked is
the only way to balance “global justice” that enables
high poverty countries to increase their resource use
with “Western” desires for continued growth and
progress. For her a work-time reduction can improve
human well-being without intensive use of natural re-
sources.13
Even if somehow the “simple living” movement became the
biggest fad since Twitter, it would do little to get us to 50 percent
carbon reduction.
But just like it’s not fair to expect the costs of global
warming mitigation to be borne on the backs of the
global poor, it’s not fair to expect America’s working
families to cut their incomes and expenditures since
fewer work hours by definition leads to lower incomes.
Most working Americans want to make more money,
not less. And most would disagree that the bulk of their
added purchases of goods and services are “wasteful.”
Should kids start darning their socks? Even if it were
fair to ask Americans to make less (which it’s not), it is
completely unrealistic politically.
Moreover, even if somehow the “simple liv-
ing” movement became the biggest fad since
Twitter, it would do little to get us to 50 percent
carbon reduction. The average Chinese makes
one-seventh of what the average American makes,
and the average Indian less than one-tenth. So steady
state economics that relies on everyone making the
same would reduce the average American’s income
The information Technology & Innovation foundation | June 2010 page 7
from $48,430 to about $10,414, the global average for
2008.14 But with population growing from 6.7 to 9 bil-
lion by 2030, steady state economics will require global
income to hold steady, and reducing per capita income
further to about $7,750. If we wanted to bring every
global citizen to the now debunked “happiness thresh-
old” of $15,000 in 2030, this would require, even with
a massive redistribution of wealth such that everyone
lived on $15,000, a tripling of global GDP and GHG
emissions.15 The reality is that to the extent that the
size of the global economy (as opposed to its dirtiness
factor) is part of the problem, the focus should be on
limiting population growth, not income growth.
If shorter work weeks aren’t the solution, maybe over-
all economic decline is. Thus some advocates may
point to the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s
(EIA) recent report that “In 2009, energy-related car-
bon dioxide emissions in the United States saw their
largest absolute and percentage decline (405 million
metric tons or 7.0 percent)” since they started tracking
the emissions 60 years ago.16 Now recessions are good
for fighting global warming! But to decrease GHG
emissions by 50 to 85 percent, we would need a de-
pression on steroids.
In reality though, neither living simply nor ongoing
economic malaise are going to help us meet targeted re-
ductions by 2050. The feat before us will require inno-
vation that will need to come from a variety of sources.
We need to transition to a more “digital” economy and
society and a less “atom” based one. (See Myth 7.) We
need to increase our innovation of new clean energy
sources from solar, wind, geothermal, etc… And, fi-
nally, we need to push innovation in energy storage,
including designing affordable, better, lighter batteries
that quickly recharge.
7) Information technology (IT) is a signifi-
cant contributor to climate change
Reality: A digital world leads to less energy use, not
more.
Many climate change advocates, seeing the increasing
use of electronic products in their lives, have turned
their focus on IT, claiming that the IT sector is a grow-
ing culprit in global warming through its energy use.
For example, in a widely-cited study by Huber and
Mills (incorrectly) predicted IT would consume half of
the country’s electricity by 2009.17
Sure, electronic devices and the infrastructure that sup-
port them consume a growing share of electricity and
most of that electricity is generated by burning fossil
fuels. But this energy consumption is dwarfed by IT’s
current and growing capacity to reduce energy con-
sumption and develop low-carbon alternatives. Think
about how working from home and teleconferencing
has cut down on carbon-intensive auto travel as more
and more businesses and government agencies adopt
these practices. Tens of millions of people are making
fewer trips by car and plane every year.18 Or consider
how our ability to condense vast amounts of informa-
tion into compact forms is actually helping the environ-
ment. Let’s face it, it is much less carbon intensive to
download a collection of songs onto your home com-
puter than it is to drive to the mall and purchase a CD
enclosed in that impossible plastic safe. In addition, as
more of us become comfortable with digital formats
and new formats like the Ipad emerge, we are consum-
ing less paper.19 And as a result, less energy since paper
manufacturing requires about 3,405 kilowatt-hours of
energy to produce 100 tons of paper.20
It is much less carbon intensive to download a collection of songs
onto your home computer than it is to drive to the mall and pur-
chase a CD enclosed in that impossible plastic safe.
Just as significant is the reduction in energy consump-
tion that would come from adopting smart-grid tech-
nology and intelligent transportation systems. Glob-
ally, smart-grid technology would reduce $124.6 billion
worth of emissions.21 In the transportation arena, the
widespread adoption of an array of IT tools to reduce
traffic congestion and maximize efficiency would also
reduce emissions. For example, applying real-time traf-
fic data to signal lights could reduce stops by 40 per-
cent. This could cut gas consumption by 10 percent
and cut emissions by 22 percent—a decrease in carbon
dioxide emissions by 9,600 tons. Overall, for every unit
of energy used by IT, six to 14 units of energy are saved
in the overall economy.22
The information Technology & Innovation foundation | June 2010 page 8
8) Going green is green (e.g., it makes eco-
nomic sense to go green)
Reality: With current technology, it often costs money
to go green.
One way proponents of tough action on global warm-
ing have made their case is by arguing that “going
green” provides us with a free lunch. In other words,
companies and consumers can significantly cut carbon
emissions and make money at the same time. There
is no need to suffer a decline in competitiveness or
productivity loss! Indeed, this has become a com-
mon mantra, from environmental leaders like David
Gottfried of the U.S. Green Building Council (USG-
BC) to Forbes magazine. 23 What’s not to like?
This feel-good mantra can be traced back to Harvard
business professor Michael Porter’s argument that
compliance with environmental regulation could actu-
ally cut costs and improve competitiveness.24 But if so
much below cost efficiency exists, why don’t organiza-
tions and households take advantage of it? To be sure,
part of the answer is market imperfections that limit
organizations from taking advantage of savings, but
mostly it’s because these win-win opportunities, at least
with existing technologies, are rarer than the advocates
would like us to believe. As an Office of Technology
Assessment report explained, although some actions
to meet environmental regulations could save industry
money, the lion’s share costs industry money. 25 This is
not to suggest that such actions should or shouldn’t be
taken. But we shouldn’t fool ourselves into thinking
that we’d save money by doing it.
Let’s be clear, certainly, some steps to save energy have
very short paybacks and make economic sense. (See
Myth 5.) For example, many IT data centers could re-
duce costs by a factor of five if they were to take ad-
vantage of real time energy pricing, “sleep modes” on
servers, and other innovations. And as the McKinsey
report argued, other energy efficiency measures also
promise short paybacks. But such quick ROI projects,
especially in renewable energy, are the exception. Un-
til reliable and affordable options exist, going green
will still cost money. Take solar photovoltaic power
for example. Currently, large PV systems can be built
for about $3 a watt. However, to reach grid parity in
the U.S., the price would need to be $1.5 a watt. In
the developing world, affordable green energy needs
to come in less than $1 a watt to compete.26 Plug-in
hybrids can save money, but only if the vehicle is driven
a considerable number of miles every year. As such,
at this time many green alternatives are better seen as
luxury goods, something that is useful to have and can
provide additional value (reduced carbon emissions),
but something for which you have to pay a price pre-
mium. In a nutshell, we should expect many businesses
(or consumers) to not jump on the “green makes eco-
nomic sense” bandwagon. Going green will be “green”
for the overall economy only when innovation drives
down costs and simultaneously improves performance
of clean energy technologies.
9) We are world leaders on the green
economy, and it’s ours for the taking
Reality: Other countries got in on the ground floor and
are already out pacing us.
When it became clear that it would be tough to con-
vince American voters to drink their cap-and-trade
“castor oil”, many advocates of the conventional ap-
proaches to climate change decided to tell Americans
that cap and trade was not castor oil, it was a chocolate
sundae. Going green would not only save them money,
it would create millions of good, high paying green
jobs, revitalize U.S. manufacturing and lower the U.S.
trade deficit. Heck, we’re the biggest and richest coun-
try, so let’s start cranking out those wind turbines.
Going green will be “green” for the overall economy only when
innovation drives down costs and simultaneously improves perfor-
mance of clean energ y technologies.
To be sure, the clean energy industry can be a source of
jobs, as we and the Breakthrough Institute have docu-
mented in a report “Rising Tigers, Sleeping Giants.”27
And these jobs can pay more than the average job in
the economy if they are focused on more than simply
caulking windows and blowing insulation into walls.28
But these jobs represent net gains to the economy only
if the United States runs a trade surplus in clean en-
ergy, which currently we are not. And why would the
The information Technology & Innovation foundation | June 2010 page 9
United States be a clean energy innovation leader if it
is no longer a leader in innovation generally. As ITIF
has documented in its frequently quoted report “The
Atlantic Century,” the U.S. is no longer number 1 in
the world in innovation-based competitiveness; in fact,
among 40 nations we are now 6th.29 And even more dis-
turbing is that we made the least amount of progress in
the last decade of any of the 40 nations examined.
One reason for our dismal last place showing is that
other nations have put in place aggressive policies to
be competitive, from lowering corporate taxes and
boosting R&D tax credits to increasing government
R&D. And many of these nations are doing the same
in clean energy. That’s why many other nations, includ-
ing China, Germany, Japan, South Korea and Spain,
are poised to overtake us in this sector or have already.
They are not just promoting the “demand” for clean
energy technology; they are supporting the “supply” of
it in their nations, including making large government
investments in clean energy technology research and
production. For example, China, South Korea, and Ja-
pan will invest a total of $509 billion in clean technol-
ogy from 2009-2013. In contrast, the United States will
invest $172 billion, and that sum assumes passage of
the American Clean Energy and Security Act, which
seems less and less likely this year.30
Just as important as the dollar value of these invest-
ments is that they are being undertaken in a coordinat-
ed manner aimed at building competitive new sectors.
These countries are backing these emerging sectors
with low-interest loans, industry-wide R&D, govern-
ment procurement, and subsidizing private firms to
encourage the purchase of these nascent technologies.
In addition, these efforts are coupled with aggressive
targets to deploy new technologies. For example, by
2012 China, Japan, and South Korea plan to produce
1.6 million hybrid gas-electric or electric cars while
North America has deployed about one-fifth of that
number.
Although some in the United States might reject this
level of government coordination as unwarranted “in-
dustrial policy,” we cannot ignore that this is the clean
energy competitiveness and innovation strategy of our
most formidable competitors. The investments these
“rising tigers” are making give them a “first mover ad-
vantage” and set the stage for them to attract a larger
share of future international investment in clean en-
ergy technologies.31 (See Myth 10.) The bottom line is
that it is presumptuous to think we can dominate in
new clean energy technologies without taking stock of
our weaknesses and our competitors’ strengths.
10) Foreign green mercantilism is good for
solving climate change (and good for the
U.S.)
Reality: Foreign mercantilism reduces needed clean
energy innovation and hurts U.S. industry and jobs.
In response to foreign clean energy policies, many
of which are mercantilist and protectionist in nature,
some in the United States say, “if these countries want
to subsidize our clean energy consumption, more pow-
er to them.” Besides, by lowering the price of clean en-
ergy technologies, they are helping solve global warm-
ing. Both views are wrong. The reality is that although
other countries like China are massively subsidizing
the manufacturing of clean technologies (and using
protectionist policies like VAT rebates and “buy Chi-
na” provisions32), their actions and our inaction have
great long-term consequences. (See Myth 9.) The truth
is that while this might help U.S. consumers, it hurts
U.S. workers. And most consumers are also workers.
So an unemployed or underpaid worker will be in no
position to put Chinese solar panels on their house, no
matter how cheap they are.
Green mercantilist policies not only threaten U.S. jobs, they
threaten progress on solving climate change.
In short, what the Chinese are doing with their clean
energy industry (and for that matter, with most of their
manufacturing sectors) is to engage in what antitrust
experts would call predatory pricing – pricing some-
thing below cost now to gain market share and pric-
ing power later. Thus, when the Chinese have a large
share of the clean energy industry (and we have a small
share), they are in the driver’s seat.
But foreign green mercantilist policies not only threat-
en U.S. jobs, they threaten progress on solving climate
change. If China continues to use mercantilist policies,
The information Technology & Innovation foundation | June 2010 page 10
it not only makes it extremely difficult for U.S. renew-
able energy firms to sell in China, but it also weakens
our competitive position in other nations due to un-
fairly protected Chinese clean energy firms. This pro-
gression of events will weaken the ability of U.S. clean
energy firms to innovate. The Chinese have created
industrial supply chains and driven prices so low that
the incentive to compete is significantly reduced. In so-
lar alone, subsidies worth 50 percent of the investment
cost have allowed China to become the largest global
producer of solar panels and account for one-third of
global shipments.
Beyond the serious trade imbalances, the moving of
clean-tech manufacturing offshore negatively impacts
not only our present technology competitiveness but
future innovation, according to professors Erica Fuchs
and Randolph Kirchain of Carnegie Mellon and Mas-
sachusetts Institute of Technology, respectively. They
found that if companies shift production of current
“prevailing” technologies offshore to countries in de-
veloping East Asia, the innovative “emerging designs”
developed in the U.S. are no longer profitable due the
change in the relative production economics of the two
competing technologies.33
Different production characteristics abroad make the
offshored prevailing technology more cost-effective
to produce in developing countries. And the emerg-
ing technology is not able to cost-compete when the
prevailing technology is being manufactured offshore,
even when the performance characteristics of the
emerging technology make it valuable in the long term.
Thus, U.S. innovation becomes stymied, and as we lose
the innovation, we lose the high-wage, high value-add-
ed, innovation-based jobs that accompany it.
Buying subsidized cheap green technologies of today
won’t allow us to meet the massive global reduction in
carbon emissions needed. For that we need next-gen-
eration technologies, not cheaper current generation
ones. And this will require the United States, as the
most likely source for next generation technologies in
the world, to focus on a green innovation strategy that
generates the innovations and value added here, not
offshore, and fights green mercantilist policies abroad.
Endnotes

1. Michael Shellenberger et al., “Fast, Clean, & Cheap: Cutting Global Warming’s Gordian Knot”, Harvard Law & Policy Review,
2 (1) (2008).

2. A number of independent estimates have projected that the carbon price established under the American Clean Energy
and Security Act (ACESA) would remain around $15/ton until as late as 2020.  See: Larry Parker and Brent Yacobucci, 
“Climate Change:  Costs and Benefits of the Cap-and-Trade Provisions of H.R. 2454.”  Congressional Research Service. 
September 14, 2009. 

3. Shellenberger et al., “Fast, Clean, & Cheap: Cutting Global Warming’s Gordian Knot”. 

4. David Victor and Danny Cullenward. “Making Carbon Markets Work,” Scientific American, September 24, (2007).  See also: 
Nicholas Stern, The Stern Review: The Economics of Climate Change, (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007), 308.

5. “EPA Sets Thresholds for Greenhouse Gas Permitting Requirements/Small Businesses and Farms Will be Shielded,”
United States Environmental Protection Agency, May 13, 2010.

6. Based on authors’ calculations. Total U.S. CO2 emissions equaled 5,833 million tons in 2008, or 19 percent of global
emissions. According to John Hawksworth, “The World in 2050: Implications of global growth for carbon emissions and
climate change policy,” Pricewaterhousecoopers, 2006,
http://www.pwc.com/en_GX/gx/world-2050/pdf/world2050carbon.pdf, by 2050 global CO2 emissions will increase by
112 percent, and the United States will account for 15 percent of global emissions. Using the 2008 figure, an 85 percent
reduction in U.S. emissions would only reduce global CO2 by 12 percent.

7. Paul Krugman, “Building a Green Economy,” The New York Times, April 5, 2010,
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/11/magazine/11Economy-t.html.

8. Yael Borofsky, “The Breakthrough Institute: Jon Stewart Challenges Al Gore On Climate Technology Challenge,”
Breakthrough Blog, November 6, 2009, http://thebreakthrough.org/blog/2009/11/daily_show_stewart_skeptical_o.shtml.

9. Nate Lewis, “Is Cap and Trade Enough? Why Reducing Emissions Depends on Technology Innovation,” Presentation,
June 10, 2009, http://itif.org/events/cap-and-trade-enough-why-reducing-emissions-depends-technology-innovation.

10. Tucker Ruberti, “Bringing Utility-Scale Solar Power to the Grid | Renewable Energy World,” RenewableEnergyWorld.com,
April 28, 2010, http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2010/04/bringing-utility-scale-solar-power-to-
the-grid?cmpid=WNL-Friday-April30-2010.

11. Per-Anders Enkvist, Tomas Nauclé, and Jerker Rosander, A cost curve for greenhouse gas reduction. The McKinsey
Quarterly 1 (2007): 35-45.

12. Herman Daly, “Herman Daly: Towards A Steady-State Economy,” The Oil Drum, May 5, 2008,
http://www.theoildrum.com/node/3941.and Herman E. Daly, “Climate Policy: From “know how” to “do now””
(presented at the American Meteorological Society, Washington, D.C., November 13, 2007),
http://www.climatepolicy.org/?p=65.

13. Juliet B. Schor, “The Triple Imperative: Global Ecology, Poverty and Worktime Reduction,” Berkeley Journal of Sociology 45
(2001): 2-17.

14. Calculations are based on the World Bank’s World Development Indicators, using Gross National Income (GNI) per
capita, expressed in purchasing power parity dollars to adjust for price level differences across countries, not adjusted for
inflation. Global GNI for 2008 was $69.773 trillion (6.7 billion multiplied by $10,414 global average). To maintain a steady
state, global GNI would remain the same, so dividing $69.773 trillion by 9 billion in population, would result in $7,752 per
capita.

15. Thanks to Ted Nordhaus of the Breakthrough Institute for this analysis.

The information Technology & Innovation foundation | June 2010 page 11

16. “U.S. Carbon Dioxide Emissions in 2009: A Retrospective Review,” U.S. Energy Information Administration,
http://www.eia.doe.gov/oiaf/environment/emissions/carbon/index.html.

17. Peter Huber and Mark Mills, “Dig More Coal—The PCs are Coming,” Forbes, May 31,1999,
http://www.forbes.com/forbes/1999/0531/6311070a.hrml.

18. Wendell Cox, “Improving Quality of Life Through Telecommuting,” The Information Technology and Innovation
Foundation, January 2009.

19. Robert D. Atkinson, Daniel D. Castro, “Digital Quality of Life: Understanding the Personal & Social Benefits of the
Information Technology Revolution”; Stephen Ezell, “Explaining International IT Application Leadership: Intelligent
Transportation Systems,” The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, 2009.

20. John A. Laitner and Karen Ehrhardt-Martinez, “Information and Communication Technologies: The Power of
Productivity,” (Washington, D.C.: American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy, February 2008),
http://aceee.org/pubs/e081.htm, accessed August 5, 2008.

21. Global e-Sustainability Initiative (GeSI), “SMART 2020: Enabling the Low Carbon Economy in the Information Age,”
press release, London, June 20, 2008,
http://www.gesi.org/index.php?article_id=210&clang=0.

22. John A. Laitner and Karen Ehrhardt-Martinez, “Information and Communication Technologies: The Power of
Productivity”.

23. Christopher Steiner, “Go Green And Stay In The Black - Forbes.com,” n.d.,
http://www.forbes.com/2010/03/08/green-small-business-entrepreneurs-technology-small-biz-toolkit-green-tips.html.

24. Michael E. Porter, The Competitive Advantage of Nations (New York: Free Press, 1990).

25. U.S. Congress, Office of Technology Assessment, Industry, Technology, and the Environment: Competitive Challenges and Business
Opportunities (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, January 1994).

26. Ken Zweibel, “The Arithmetic of Solar Royalty Trusts,” The Solar Review, April 21, 2010, http://thesolarreview.org/.

27. Robert Atkinson et al., “Rising Tigers, Sleeping Giant: Asian Nations Set to Dominate the Clean Energy Race by Out-
Investing the United States,” The Breakthrough Institute and The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation,
2009, http://www.itif.org/dev/publications/rising-tigers-sleeping-giant-asian-nations-set-dominate-clean-energy-race-out-
investing.

28. Robert Atkinson, “Clean Technology Manufacturing Competitiveness: The Role of Tax Incentives,” 2010,
http://finance.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/052010RAtest.pdf.

29. Robert Atkinson and Scott Andes, “The Atlantic Century: Benchmarking EU and U.S. Innovation and Competitiveness,”
The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, 2009,
http://www.itif.org/publications/atlantic-century-benchmarking-eu-and-us-innovation-and-competitiveness.

30. Atkinson et al., “Rising Tigers, Sleeping Giant: Asian Nations Set to Dominate The Clean Energy Race by Out-Investing
the United States”.

31. “Resolved: The U.S. Can and Should Pick Winners,” Debate at The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation,
April 2010, http://www.itif.org/events/resolved-us-can-and-should-pick-winners.

32. Thomas Howell et al., “China’s Promotion of the Renewable Electric Power Equipment Industry,” Dewey and LeBoeuf
LLP for the National Foreign Trade Council, March 15, 2010,
http://www.nftc.org/newsflash/newsflash.asp?Mode=View&id=236&articleid=3015&category=All.

33. Erica R. Fuchs and Randolph Kirchain, “Design for Location: The Impact of Manufacturing Offshore on Technology
Competitiveness in the Optoelectronics Industry,” Management Science, R&R, June 2, 2009 (2010),
http://ssrn.com/paper=1545027.

The information Technology & Innovation foundation | June 2010 page 12

About the authors

Dr. Robert D. Atkinson is President of the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, a Washington, DC-based
technology policy think tank. He is also author of The Past and Future of America’s Economy: Long Waves of Innovation
that Power Cycles of Growth (Edward Elgar, 2005).

Dr. Darrene Hackler is a Senior Fellow at the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation. She is the author of
Cities in the Technology Economy (ME Sharpe 2006). She was an associate professor at George Mason University in
the Department of Public and International Affairs where her research focused on the political economy of innovation,
entrepreneurship, the technology industry, and telecommunications infrastructure.

Acknowledgements

The authors thank Steve Norton and Scott Andes for editorial and research assistance efforts. In addition, thanks to
Emiko Guthe for production assistance.

About the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation

The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) is a Washington, DC-based think tank at the cutting edge
of designing innovation policies and exploring how advances in technology will create new economic opportunities to
improve the quality of life. Non-profit, and non-partisan, we offer pragmatic ideas that break free of economic philoso-
phies born in eras long before the first punch card computer and well before the rise of modern China and pervasive
globalization.

ITIF, founded in 2006, is dedicated to conceiving and promoting the new ways of thinking about technology-driven
productivity, competitiveness, and globalization that the 21st century demands. Innovation goes far beyond the latest
electronic gadget in your pocket – although these incredible devices are emblematic of innovation and life-changing
technology. Innovation is about the development and widespread incorporation of new technologies in a wide array of
activities. Innovation is also about a mindset that recognizes that information is today’s most important capital and that
developing new processes for capturing and sharing information are as central to the future as the steam engine and
trans-Atlantic cable were for previous eras. This is an exciting time in human history. The future used to be something
people had time to think about. Now it shows up every time we go online.

At ITIF, we believe innovation and information technology are at the heart of our capacity to tackle the world’s biggest
challenges, from climate change to health care to creating more widespread economic opportunity. We are confident
innovation and information technology offer the pathway to a more prosperous and secure tomorrow for all citizens of
the planet. We are committed to advancing policies that enhance our collectivecapacity to shape the future we want -
beginning today.

ITIF publishes policy reports, holds forums and policy debates, advises elected officials and their staff, and is an active
resource for the media. It develops new and creative policy proposals to advance innovation, analyzes existing policy is-
sues through the lens of advancing innovation and productivity, and opposes policies that hinder digital transformation
and innovation.

For more information contact ITIF at 202-449-1351 or at mail@itif.org, or go online to www.itif.org.

ITIF | 1101 K St. N.W. | Suite 610 | Washington, DC 20005

The information Technology & Innovation foundation | June 2010